"Frankensignals"

[thenetwork]

So we have had discussions & pictures of Franken-signs, where signs are put together using pieces and parts of other signs...

Anybody have any good shots of Frankensignals -- traffic lights with mismatched signal heads/visors/sizes? 

I bring this up as I was thinking of my weekend commutes between home and college in Northern Ohio back in the day, and recalling some atrocious lights along US 20 between Norwalk and Toledo at the time -- even some lights that looked like they were held together with twine & chewing gum.

[Ian]

I have several cases of Frankensignals in my photo inventory....

Here is one in Pottstown, PA where the reflectors inside the signal have broken, causing the heat of the signal bulb to cause the plastic casing to disfigure slightly:


This one is at the same intersection as above. The signals themselves aren't anything special, but the pole suspending it looks like a crutch!


While these signals may look like a great candidate (and they are), these are actually fairly old. The signal brand Eagle used to make enlarger units for the red sections like this:


This signal used to be suspended above the intersection of US 202 and Mount Lebanon Road in Talleyville, DE. It was basically a left turn signal and a thru signal that shared a yellow ball section.


This doghouse signal is missing its yellow arrow section! The current green arrow section actually has a green/yellow bi-modal arrow installed. This is at the intersection of NY 17 and 7 Lakes Drive in Sloatsburg, NY:

[Takumi]

Future Frankensignal? (Hopewell, VA)

[Alex]

Discovered this set of signals on GSV back in 2009 in Prichard, AL and photographed them shortly thereafter. They were in flash mode when I first saw them and in a bad state. Within a year the signals were restored to full operation, but with replacement parts as opposed to replacement signals.

Before:
https://www.aaroads.com/southeast/alabama999/grover_av_sb_at_old_bay_bridge_rd.jpg
https://www.aaroads.com/southeast/alabama999/old_bay_bridge_rd_wb_at_grover_av.jpg

After:
https://www.aaroads.com/southeast/alabama999/grover_st_nb_at_old_bay_bridge_rd.jpg
https://www.aaroads.com/southeast/alabama999/old_bay_bridge_rd_wb_at_grover_av_02.jpg
https://www.aaroads.com/southeast/alabama999/old_bay_bridge_rd_wb_at_grover_av_03.jpg

Some of the signals we saw at Joplin, MO were badly damaged, yet remained in operation, such as this one:

[Alps]

Context: http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/cr_124

[bulkyorled]

Not sure if this counts... I see them a lot in the San Gabriel Valley but this was in La Cañada. They look dumb

[Takumi]

^ Yikes. Reminds me of the duck face for some reason.

[agentsteel53]

can someone explain where the "duck face" came from?  first it was nowhere, now it is everywhere.  I'm assuming some popular music video had it...

[NE2]

can someone explain where the "duck face" came from?

Ducks.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face

[agentsteel53]

Ducks.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face

heh, a meme that wasn't spawned in the bowels of /b/.  go figure.

[agentsteel53]

also, I must add that manually forging the URL into http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/[whatever] is remarkably effective

though it still doesn't explain why there is a giant increase in interest in zombies starting around 2010. 

[Ian]

<img>
Not sure if this counts... I see them a lot in the San Gabriel Valley but this was in La Cañada. They look dumb

That one's actually really old. Look at the photo I posted above with the Eagle enlarger units. These were made by Econolite and were put up may be throughout the 60's or 70's (?).

[bulkyorled]

<img>
Not sure if this counts... I see them a lot in the San Gabriel Valley but this was in La Cañada. They look dumb

That one's actually really old. Look at the photo I posted above with the Eagle enlarger units. These were made by Econolite and were put up may be throughout the 60's or 70's (?).

I guess its not a frankensignal then But it resembles one. I can't figure out why they're basically only in one spot here. I VERY rarely see them outside the SGV here. And the age I wouldn't doubt either. Pretty much all the cities over there except Pasadena have extremely old everything. The signals are ancient and show their age and don't get me started on their street signs.

[realjd]

Every signal in Kentucky is a Frankensignal with mismatched visors.

[Alex]

Every signal in Kentucky is a Frankensignal with mismatched visors.

Those are snouts. 

[kphoger]

Every signal in Kentucky is a Frankensignal with mismatched visors.

He he he.  Kentucky signals crack me up.

[kj3400]

Has anyone ever told them how ugly their signals look? I never knew they looked like that until now.

[Ian]

Has anyone ever told them how ugly their signals look? I never knew they looked like that until now.

I know I might be the minority of this argument, but I actually like Kentuckys mixed visor combo.

[Scott5114]

Anyone have any examples?

[Alex]

Anyone have any examples?

You really only need one, as the style is extremely consistent across the state.

[PurdueBill]

For whatever reason, Akron has been a longtime user of the same arrangement as Kentucky--tunnel visors on yellow and cutaways on red and green.  This even carries over to yellow arrow sections.

The old dark green signals here (typical of old Akron signals) were replaced a couple years ago with new yellow-painted ones, still 12-8-8, and still with the traditional visors.  However, many recent installs have not followed the pattern--it may be that the contractor doing the work on blanket installs of many lights on the same street can't accommodate them or something.  One-off installs by city crews, like the new 12-8-8 mentioned, seem to still get the old visor treatment.  An extreme near me is on West Market Street which got new signals over several miles about 10 years ago from West Akron through Fairlawn.  All had tunnel visors.  A city crew later replaced a simple signal with the left-turn doghouse pictured here and what do you know--the replacement had the Akron visor treatment!

[Central Avenue]

I'm curious: what's the rationale behind using the tunnel visor only for the yellow light like that?

[Scott5114]

Wow, I didn't realize there was anyone still installing 12/8/8 signals. Always liked that design.

[PurdueBill]

Wow, I didn't realize there was anyone still installing 12/8/8 signals. Always liked that design.

Wholesale replacements in Akron (on a whole corridor) seem to be all 12-inch, but one-offs at single intersections seem to continue to sometimes include 12-8-8, especially for side streets.  They even recently put in yellow and green 8-inch LED heads replacing incandescents at some intersections, so the 8-inch heads evidently will stick around there.

I always thought that especially at night, a bright 8-inch LED head is plenty visible and bright.  Full-brightness 12-inch LED signals can be overkill at night sometimes.

[The High Plains Traveler]

This looks weird as you go down East 4th Street (CO-96) in Pueblo. The head over the left lane was replaced at some point and mounted between the bottom two sections.  I don't know if CDOT or the city of Pueblo maintains signals on city streets that are on the state highway system like this.

EDIT: The Clearview street sign on the mast arm is strictly Pueblo. CDOT does not do Clearview. 

4thPortland1 by The High Plains Traveler, on Flickr